Duong Lam’s old village houses

Duong Lam Village in Son Tay Town in Hanoi’s outskirts, the first-recognised old village in Vietnam, is home to many houses dating back up to 400 years. The house owned by Nguyen Van Hung, 51, is among those which is nearly 400 years old. Hung’s family is the 12th generation living in the house. The house with the gate built from laterite is divided into five compartments. Three are used for ancestor worship. The main doors can be easily dismantled, which is convenient for holding parties. Despite hot weather, it is quite cool inside the house as it has many doors and many parts of it are built from wood. Nguyen Van Hung, the house owner There are many valuables, including a bronze tray of more than 300 years old used by the wealthy in the past. The closet and a set of table and chairs were made hundreds of years ago The cupboard The kitchen The jar used to hold rainwater Some pillars have become rotten, but Hung tries to maintain instead of replacing them Some people have asked to buy the house for VND1 billion (USD45,454), but Hung doesn’t want to sell it